Cryptocurrencies were initially intended to be used as an alternate method of payment, despite the fact that they are sometimes advertised as investment possibilities. According to this story, cryptocurrencies are subject to the same supply and demand laws as fiat money.
The fundamentals of money, the economy, and market forces, according to a first-year economics student, are supply and demand equilibrium. The amount of a given asset that is in use compared to the demand, or how many people are interested in it, influences its price. The basics of all economies are based on this supply and demand equation, which also holds true for cryptocurrencies.
A deflationary cryptocurrency is one whose value rises as a result of a decline or stagnation in its supply. As a result, the coin’s market value is guaranteed to be compelling for more investors and usable as a store of money. Despite the fact that deflationary cryptocurrencies appear more appealing, not all of them are.
Several popular cryptocurrencies do not reduce inflation. Moreover, their supply is frequently unrestricted. Some are anti-inflationary because the token economy they utilise causes inflation to decline over time. For instance, it won’t be deflationary for Bitcoin (BTC) until all 21 million coins have been created. Until the “Merge” in September 2022, Ether (ETH) was not deflationary.
How does Ethereum fare against other deflationary tokens?
Deflationary procedures are developed by token developers when they establish the token’s underlying economic framework. Tokenomics, the economic model, may be crucial to how stakeholders create and build value in a Web3 environment.
At the level of development, a token’s supply and demand dynamics are determined. Burn mechanisms and other deflationary features are chosen when the economic model that supports the token is being created. This might take the form of a growing mechanism, like Ethereum, or a point-in-time procedure, like Bitcoin.
Satoshi Nakamoto made sure there would only be a limited number of 21 million Bitcoins when he invented it. No more Bitcoin can be generated once the first 21 million have been mined. The idea that Bitcoin is a genuine store of value in contrast to fiat currencies, whose supply rises as a result of central bank monetary policy, has benefited from its restricted supply.
Ethereum, in contrast, had an inflated supply when it first started. The amount of ether available was growing at a pace of 4.5% yearly. Nevertheless, due to its burn rate following the Ethereum Merge, which saw it go from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake, it is now an asset that does not experience inflation. The quantity of Ether burnt to sustain network activity exceeds the amount of Ether that is released into circulation.
By adding the burning of a portion of the gas costs each transaction, the EIP-1559 protocol has changed the economic characteristics of the Ethereum currency. Several analysts contend that as a result, Ethereum is now more deflationary than Bitcoin.
New tokens generated for both protocol and application layers may be designed to be deflationary as they are seen to be a superior store of value.
Has Ethereum’s transition to a deflationary token made it a more desirable asset?
For investors, investments in deflationary cryptocurrencies can result in growth and profits. Deflationary characteristics alone, however, could not be a good indicator of a superior investment.
Deflationary tokens often have higher perceived value among holders and investors because to their limited quantity. This was also shown by the emergence of nonfungible tokens (NFTs), where values were frequently determined by the rarity of the NFTs. With the Ethereum Name Service (ENS), where certain three-digit ENS names were auctioned for even more than 100 ETH, limited availability also drove prices higher.
When it turned become a deflationary asset, Ethereum could not always be seen to be a superior one. The robust ecosystem of Ethereum powers chain transactions, and as more ether is burned in the process, it leads to deflation. This economic accomplishment would not be possible on an idle Ethereum network.
Ethereum’s success as an investment depends on the continued strength of the underlying chain fundamentals. An ecosystem of developers that can produce several apps that people mostly accept often exists in chains with solid underpinnings. Developers are encouraged to keep coming up with new ideas as users swarm to these programmes.
Ethereum would become deflationary as a result of the network effect, increasing its appeal as an investment.
Who controls inflation in the Ethereum ecosystem?
In conventional capital markets, centralised regulatory agencies usually control asset price inflation. Does Web3 have the same issue? Who maintains impartiality?
In the US, the Federal Reserve (the Fed) is in charge of keeping inflation under control by enacting measures including changing interest rates, running bond-buying programmes, and printing money. Most other countries generally have obligations comparable to this one. In Web3, the monetary policy of the protocol, which is decided by the community through decentralised governance, regulates inflation.
When building the ecosystem, deflationary mechanisms are weaved into the tokenomics. As the token ecosystem develops, there will be more potential for burn when tokens have an infinite supply. In order to decrease the supply, the entity administering the token must proactively discover these possibilities and include them into the tokenomics.
The Ethereum Merge is a great illustration of how the supply and demand of Ethereum were changed to make it deflationary. An organisation that controls the token and the platform that supports it, known as a decentralized autonomous organisation (DAO), usually proposes, approves, and implements modifications of this magnitude to tokenomics.
Then, as part of the ecosystem’s regulations, these modifications to tokenomics are included into smart contracts. The ecosystem’s economic model and new business regulations are driven by smart contracts. DAOs may thus be essential to ensuring the tokens are managed effectively and efficiently.
As decentralization is one of the pillars of the blockchain world, it is essential to supply sustainable tokenomics based on good business models by avoiding an economic system where the founding teams, investors, venture capitalists, and whales are in charge.
